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ehh, i prefer the drives the way they are. i can deal with a laptop being 1 or 2 pounds heavier for an easily accessible drive.

I'd tend to agree, for a normal notebook. I'd be willing to deal with an awkward location if my main concern was that it be ultra-portable, though.

I can't see it being too popular in a normal notebook, but if they could pull off a tablet-type notebook with optical drive, I imagine it could be quite successful.
 
Once againt:

Patent=you make money

or

Patent=them not making money

Far more often than not its about keeping others from making money than you actually using the idea. There are many organizations that actually do nothing other than buy really good ideas (IP..patents) and then sue people who use them. One such company sued the Blackberry people and made billions. They merely owned the patents and a file cabinet to store them in. They never could and never would use the technology.
 
Well, this S@CKS.

I dont want to flip a computer every time I want to insert/take out a disk :mad:

Just leave the drives where they are now. I wont mind a 0.3 cm thicker laptop, but with with the drive at the proper place and easily accessible.

If Apple wants to make an ultra-portable, they should drop the drive out to achieve good results.
 
Under is plain dumb. People don't want to stop what they are doing to load a dvd. Makes no sense besides there maybe even more chances of dust and spills getting to the inside of the machine.

Sorry a non-starter.
 
Good idea but a better idea is to put the Drive on the back of the LCD. Then you only have to shut the lid, not shut the lid and turn the notebook upside down.

OK so it makes the lid thicker. I don't care because the bottom part can be thinner and what matters is the total.

Sounds great but it may make the screen easier to damage as there would be less distance between components inside the lid.
 
What I could really use is a docking station. Having wires coming out of the left and right on a laptop is not a clean design. I rather have a dock or a single wire with one head on one end and multiple heads at the other end, and it connect on the back somewhere.
A lot cleaner and only one wire to connect/disconnect.
 
why not have the keyboard pop up an inch or so to insert a disk instead.

that would mean even more machinery, I would imagine, than they use for a slot-loader, and it would probably make the keyboard a lot less sturdy than it is now, which would suck. that's one of my favorite things about the macbook, the keyboard feels like it will last awhile, and it's super-easy to clean.
 
What I could really use is a docking station. Having wires coming out of the left and right on a laptop is not a clean design. I rather have a dock or a single wire with one head on one end and multiple heads at the other end, and it connect on the back somewhere.
A lot cleaner and only one wire to connect/disconnect.

Amen for that. My MBP looks like a fracking spider what with all the crap coming out of it. Lets see. On the right side you have my DVI cable, my FW 800 cable for the external HD, FW 400 for my iPod Photo, USB2 for the USB hub that is integrated into my monitor along with the USB plug that powers the cooling pad for the laptop. On the left you have power and audio out to my speakers.

I'm waiting for the day I bend one of the pins on the DVI cable when I'm in a hurry to get out the door.

IMHO apple is retarded for not having a very simple docking port on the bottom of their system with a slick docking station. I'm 100% sure this is a Jobs's neuroticism. :mad:

that would mean even more machinery, I would imagine, than they use for a slot-loader, and it would probably make the keyboard a lot less sturdy than it is now, which would suck. that's one of my favorite things about the macbook, the keyboard feels like it will last awhile, and it's super-easy to clean.

That is a heck of an assumption for someone I'm assuming isn't an engineer.
 
I am sure this is a joke

It's more than obvious to me that the only sensible solution toward this problem is switching to smaller size disks. With today's technology, it's too easy. I'm always amazed by the prolonged existence of 5' optical disks, which is incredibly obsolete, often reminding me of those 360KB bulky floppies.
 
that would mean even more machinery, I would imagine, than they use for a slot-loader, and it would probably make the keyboard a lot less sturdy than it is now, which would suck. that's one of my favorite things about the macbook, the keyboard feels like it will last awhile, and it's super-easy to clean.

I'm sure he's right, at least for the more machinery part. After all, if the keyboard pops up an inch for loading, it still has to go back in. I don't see how it can save you any space.
 
who says it has to be on the bottom?

The first thing I thought of was having the cd on the back of the screen. It is already upright anyway...and well if the total package is skinny, no one cares whether the screen is thicker, then you shut the notebook, pull it our, or just fold it down a little.
 
I would think that someone would leave the door open flip the book and rip off the hinge.
 
LOL - This is soooo stupid.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I can't wait to get my "flip-book."

Geeze, just take the optical drive out of the ultra portable!

And then make a really nice, thin add-on drive available.

Yes. The way I use my PB, I never carry around CDs/DVDs anyway. For people like me, it's just not that important to maintain an optical drive within the laptop. I think most users wouldn't mind having a separate optical drive.

But, that presents an interesting point - if putting it on the bottom doesn't make the laptop considerably thicker, people like me that don't mind having the bother of an add-on optical drive wouldn't mind the bother of having it on the bottom, either. Think of it that way, and I think it makes some good sense. Just, like you say, this would be something to do on the smallest model, not anything bigger or stuff for pros that use the drive more often, generally speaking. And even for normal folks, ripping cds to iTunes would be a hellish pain if you had to flip the mac over every disc. That's why I hope this never sees the light of day.
 
Stupid

I'm so sorry, I am a HUGE Apple fan, but that is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of. Thats like having to get under your car to fill it with gas or something. If they ever really did that I would be beyond mind boggled. Tell me that near perrfect Apple is joking about this. How could they even consider that?

P.S. One my my favorite things about Apple laptops is the slot loading drives, I think it sets them apart in elegance from all others, I hope they don't move away from that. I mean how much more thin do we need our laptops really???, the other components will keep shrinking in size anyway.

:) I still LOVE you Apple :)
 
Optical media is dead!!!

With all the other ways to get data on / off the computer:

- firewire
- USB
- ethernet
- airport
- bluetooth

Why do we still need to waste valuable space and battery life spinning little plastic disks around? Flash memory is cheap, getting cheaper by the day, doesn't scratch, and doesn't waste so much space and power.

If you want an optical drive you can always plug in a USB one!

PLEASE apple, make a 12" or smaller laptop without a stupid optical drive built in!!! Tablet preferred, but just a 12" MBPro with extra battery instead of optical would get my credit card out in record time. Or do what Dell was smart enough to do 10 years ago and give us a choice on what we put in that bay!
 
Horrible! Very un-apple like!

However, I see this only being practical on a tablet


Indeed, this would be a very comfortabe design for a tablet. I don't feel too comfortable with my disc spinning upside down though... Just my imagination perhaps but it feels like it will skip or have errors because of unnatural positioning.
 
With all the other ways to get data on / off the computer:

- firewire
- USB
- ethernet
- airport
- bluetooth

Why do we still need to waste valuable space and battery life spinning little plastic disks around? Flash memory is cheap, getting cheaper by the day, doesn't scratch, and doesn't waste so much space and power.

If you want an optical drive you can always plug in a USB one!

PLEASE apple, make a 12" or smaller laptop without a stupid optical drive built in!!! Tablet preferred, but just a 12" MBPro with extra battery instead of optical would get my credit card out in record time. Or do what Dell was smart enough to do 10 years ago and give us a choice on what we put in that bay!

Until Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, DVD's, SACD's, DVD-A's, CD's, CDRWs, and CDR's die, this isn't a legitimate argument. When that happens (if), I will be very happy though :)
 
Somewhat off topic....but that reminds me - why the heck doesn't Apple develop a decent (or any for that matter) docking station and forget worrying about where to put the stupid optical drive.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the diagram show a Ti Powerbook? By my way of reckoning, the MacBook Pro comparison would appear to be an on-topic opinion (it is, after all, an opinion). And what's more, what percentage of people solely use their laptops without anything plugged into it?

My slant on this is that for a full sized laptop (like the one shown in the diagram), it's a crap idea... but I would agree that for an ultra-portable, it's probably right on the money.

Dazzer21
 
Personally leave the CD/DVD drive out of the "thin" laptop and give us a docking station with drive bays connected via a well hidden connector on the bottom of the laptop and provide firewire and/or eSATA ports so we can hook up a portable drive as needed when on the road.

Really I seldom ever use the CD/DVD drive in my laptops (only for the occasional install) and even more seldom when on the road (except when dropping on the next great thing when at WWDC).

Are you serious? Do you not know what Apple's mantra is? A computer is shipped to be able to be used right out of the box! To include a dock is to make the computer a cripple and will ultimately make the computer less marketable.

Amen for that. My MBP looks like a fracking spider what with all the crap coming out of it. Lets see. On the right side you have my DVI cable, my FW 800 cable for the external HD, FW 400 for my iPod Photo, USB2 for the USB hub that is integrated into my monitor along with the USB plug that powers the cooling pad for the laptop. On the left you have power and audio out to my speakers.

I'm waiting for the day I bend one of the pins on the DVI cable when I'm in a hurry to get out the door.

IMHO apple is retarded for not having a very simple docking port on the bottom of their system with a slick docking station. I'm 100% sure this is a Jobs's neuroticism. :mad:

That's all your choice. You choose to have all those wires connected. I use my iBook without any wires the vast majority of the time. Apple isn't going to make a computer that caters to you and your brethren, which is probably around 1-3% of all Mac users.
 
The first thing I thought of was having the cd on the back of the screen. It is already upright anyway...and well if the total package is skinny, no one cares whether the screen is thicker, then you shut the notebook, pull it our, or just fold it down a little.


yeah, and when the dvd isn't 100% balanced your screen starts shaking from the vibration. great user experience:rolleyes:
 
That's all your choice. You choose to have all those wires connected. I use my iBook without any wires the vast majority of the time. Apple isn't going to make a computer that caters to you and your brethren, which is probably around 1-3% of all Mac users.

i'm not so sure about the 1-3%. i guess 50 % of all mac sales are notebooks. and i guess half of that are desktop replacements. so maybe 25% of all users could use a docking port.
 
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